14 Ways People Screw Up Focus Groups
Common Focus Group Mistakes By People Who Don’t know Better, and by those who do, but make them anyway.
Because sometime doing great work is first an understanding and preventing the ways it can go wrong.
1. Bringing qualitative tools to a quantitative fight - If you want to know how many
people will like something, focus groups are not the tool. If you want to understand why
they will like it, they are.
2. Treating research as an expense not an investment - yeah, I know it goes on the expense side of the ledger. But you have to make the “go” decision for research fully expecting to get a return on your investment of time and money. If you can’t understand how research will either a) save you money or b) help you spend money more effectively, don’t do it.
3. Thinking moderators have to look like the target participant group - (Black moderators for African American groups, female for women, etc.) Participants will talk a lot more if they think there is a high likelihood the moderator might not “get it”. And the great moderators will play up that perspective.
4. Trying to moderate your own groups. You can’t be objective about your own organization, or tell the CEO he’s whack when it comes to including questions that are irrelevant to the objectives. See this post to understand what a professional moderator can bring to the table.
5. Using the Moderator as a vendor rather than a partner. Most experienced moderators have been through the mill a few times, and have seen your problem or situation before. They will have some insight regarding the way the groups should be organized to help you get the most from the process. They will have recommendations as to types of questions, ways to dig deeper, and questioning techniques no one in your organization has ever heard of. You don't hire a doc and tell her how to do the surgery.
6. Using the same moderator for every project - sure the wonks in engineering are comfortable with him, but as much as I hate to admit it to my faithful clients, fresh and diverse moderating perspectives can mean more useful results and better marketing decisions. They will make you think and evaluate in different ways.
7. Going with the low bid - This is especially prevalent with companies that don’t have a lot of experience with focus groups, and have a hard time understanding the difference a moderator can make to the overall success or failure of the project. You will pay more for the better moderators, who charge more because they can, sort of like the best surgeons. They bring more value and more experience and will do a more complete job. All the great moderators will admit they a) broke into the business by charging less, and b) were nowhere near as good then as they are now. If you hire an inexperienced moderator, make no mistake about it, you are paying for their training. Be careful. It takes more training and certification to become an Equine Sports Massage Therapist than it does to become a “moderator”.
8. Trying to do too much with the groups. The temptation is always there. While we have customers in the room let’s ask them what they think of our website! Don’t do it. Stick to the project objectives, and go deep, not broad. You’ll get much better understanding that way. Give the participants time to go beyond the initial, top-line answers.
9. Not allowing time for spontaneous discussion. Sometimes the participants know better than you what you need to be talking about. Listen. Don’t try to control every second of the discussion.
10. Too much diversity - Who can argue against diversity? I can. Sometimes you should NOT mix disparate groups. If you are a college and you want to understand what high school juniors and seniors are looking for in your website, you will not want to blend those two groups of students together in one group; they are at two separate points in the college decision process, and you need to understand BOTH positions.
11. Not enough organizational diversity in the back room. The people viewing the groups need to come from all over the organization marketing, customer service, operations, information technology - getting a variety of perspectives and experiences. They will all hear different things during the groups, and the ensuing reconciliation of ideas and brainstorms can be richly rewarding. Note: if the CEO comes you'll have a lot of people there looking serious and taking notes. Encourage that.
12. Not taking advantage of the energy in the back room following the groups. Yeah, I know it’s 10:00 and everyone wants to go home, chill and watch Leno, but take 15 minutes and list the top clarifications, confirmations, surprises and insights derived from the groups while the information is still fresh. Then get together early the next morning and talk about it some more.
13. Depreciating participant opinions because they a) aren’t consistent with yours, or b) come from someone who is wearing stretch pants that could cover the state of New Jersey. Listen to what the participants are saying; don’t discount their opinions because of their socioeconomic status, because they don’t look like you, or because they frequently dangle modifiers.
14. Trying to quantify the findings - if you catch yourself saying “well, half the group said they would buy...”, lie down until the impulse passes. Instead, seek to understand what triggered that decision, and how you can induce more of them.
While these are some of the common mistakes, there are many more uncommon ones that can be just as devastating to the efficacy of the results. In fact, the biggest mistake companies make is never doing focus groups at all, because they a) don't understand the value that can be added, or the insight that can be derived, or b) don't want to spend the money. This is no less foolish than the General who wants to rush to the attack because he doesn't want to take the time and energy to look at the aerial reconnaissance photos of the enemy position.
Better marketing is always achieved by those who first take the time to understand.
Because sometime doing great work is first an understanding and preventing the ways it can go wrong.
1. Bringing qualitative tools to a quantitative fight - If you want to know how many
people will like something, focus groups are not the tool. If you want to understand why
they will like it, they are.
2. Treating research as an expense not an investment - yeah, I know it goes on the expense side of the ledger. But you have to make the “go” decision for research fully expecting to get a return on your investment of time and money. If you can’t understand how research will either a) save you money or b) help you spend money more effectively, don’t do it.
3. Thinking moderators have to look like the target participant group - (Black moderators for African American groups, female for women, etc.) Participants will talk a lot more if they think there is a high likelihood the moderator might not “get it”. And the great moderators will play up that perspective.
4. Trying to moderate your own groups. You can’t be objective about your own organization, or tell the CEO he’s whack when it comes to including questions that are irrelevant to the objectives. See this post to understand what a professional moderator can bring to the table.
5. Using the Moderator as a vendor rather than a partner. Most experienced moderators have been through the mill a few times, and have seen your problem or situation before. They will have some insight regarding the way the groups should be organized to help you get the most from the process. They will have recommendations as to types of questions, ways to dig deeper, and questioning techniques no one in your organization has ever heard of. You don't hire a doc and tell her how to do the surgery.
6. Using the same moderator for every project - sure the wonks in engineering are comfortable with him, but as much as I hate to admit it to my faithful clients, fresh and diverse moderating perspectives can mean more useful results and better marketing decisions. They will make you think and evaluate in different ways.
7. Going with the low bid - This is especially prevalent with companies that don’t have a lot of experience with focus groups, and have a hard time understanding the difference a moderator can make to the overall success or failure of the project. You will pay more for the better moderators, who charge more because they can, sort of like the best surgeons. They bring more value and more experience and will do a more complete job. All the great moderators will admit they a) broke into the business by charging less, and b) were nowhere near as good then as they are now. If you hire an inexperienced moderator, make no mistake about it, you are paying for their training. Be careful. It takes more training and certification to become an Equine Sports Massage Therapist than it does to become a “moderator”.
8. Trying to do too much with the groups. The temptation is always there. While we have customers in the room let’s ask them what they think of our website! Don’t do it. Stick to the project objectives, and go deep, not broad. You’ll get much better understanding that way. Give the participants time to go beyond the initial, top-line answers.
9. Not allowing time for spontaneous discussion. Sometimes the participants know better than you what you need to be talking about. Listen. Don’t try to control every second of the discussion.
10. Too much diversity - Who can argue against diversity? I can. Sometimes you should NOT mix disparate groups. If you are a college and you want to understand what high school juniors and seniors are looking for in your website, you will not want to blend those two groups of students together in one group; they are at two separate points in the college decision process, and you need to understand BOTH positions.
11. Not enough organizational diversity in the back room. The people viewing the groups need to come from all over the organization marketing, customer service, operations, information technology - getting a variety of perspectives and experiences. They will all hear different things during the groups, and the ensuing reconciliation of ideas and brainstorms can be richly rewarding. Note: if the CEO comes you'll have a lot of people there looking serious and taking notes. Encourage that.
12. Not taking advantage of the energy in the back room following the groups. Yeah, I know it’s 10:00 and everyone wants to go home, chill and watch Leno, but take 15 minutes and list the top clarifications, confirmations, surprises and insights derived from the groups while the information is still fresh. Then get together early the next morning and talk about it some more.
13. Depreciating participant opinions because they a) aren’t consistent with yours, or b) come from someone who is wearing stretch pants that could cover the state of New Jersey. Listen to what the participants are saying; don’t discount their opinions because of their socioeconomic status, because they don’t look like you, or because they frequently dangle modifiers.
14. Trying to quantify the findings - if you catch yourself saying “well, half the group said they would buy...”, lie down until the impulse passes. Instead, seek to understand what triggered that decision, and how you can induce more of them.
While these are some of the common mistakes, there are many more uncommon ones that can be just as devastating to the efficacy of the results. In fact, the biggest mistake companies make is never doing focus groups at all, because they a) don't understand the value that can be added, or the insight that can be derived, or b) don't want to spend the money. This is no less foolish than the General who wants to rush to the attack because he doesn't want to take the time and energy to look at the aerial reconnaissance photos of the enemy position.
Better marketing is always achieved by those who first take the time to understand.
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